Parliament Matters: What is the King’s Speech? What is the State Opening of Parliament? What is the Conservative 1922 Committee at Westminster?

News

The King’s Speech, State Opening and the 1922 Committee - Parliament Matters podcast, episode 1

10 Nov 2023

©UK House of Lords

As the Government sets out its legislative plans for the next Session in the King's Speech, co-hosts Ruth Fox and Mark D'Arcy look at the political and parliamentary prospects for the proposals and discuss the latest on what’s happening with HS2 legislation.

LISTEN

They discuss why Parliament has legislative Sessions that begin with State Opening and end with Prorogation, and disagree over whether it’s time to abandon the pageantry!

Mark and Ruth then head off to the House of Lords to meet Professor the Lord Norton of Louth to discuss the subject of his new book, the 1922 Committee of the Conservative Party, which has risen to prominence in recent years due to the number of Conservative Party leadership elections. The 1922 Committee was not founded in 1922 and it is not a Committee, so what is it? And is the selection of party leaders by the party membership really compatible with our system of parliamentary democracy?

← Back to Parliament Matters homepage

Listen on our YouTube channel (autocaptioned)

Subscribe to our YouTube channel

What we talked about on this episode

Parliament Matters is supported by a grant from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, a Quaker trust which engages in philanthropy and supports work on democratic accountability.

Our guest

©House of Lords [CC BY 4.0 Deed]

Philip Norton, Professor the Lord Norton of Louth

Lord Norton is Professor of Government, and Director of the Centre for Legislative Studies, at the University of Hull. He was appointed to his professorial chair in 1986 and elevated to the peerage in 1998. The author of over 35 books, his most recent work is The 1922 Committee: Power Behind the Scenes.

Lord Norton is a member of the Hansard Society, the former Director of Studies for our international Hansard Scholars programme, and a member of our Delegated Legislation Review. He chairs the History of Parliament Trust and the Higher Education Commission, is President of the Study of Parliament Group and Editor of The Journal of Legislative Studies.

Key quotes

Mark D'Arcy, Co-host, Parliament Matters

What does the pageantry of State Opening tell us about Parliament?

"What you're seeing is a Victorian romantic conception of medieval monarchy... You might as well be in Narnia. It's a conception of government that is way, way, way out of date now. It's 19th century romanticism about the Middle Ages raised up into the shell for a Parliament in the 21st century."

If Parliament has passed an Act why are some provisions not implemented?

"...there'll be provisions to say that these specific clauses will come into force straightaway or it may say they will come into force after a particular event or a particular date, or it will be left open to ministers to decide when they come into force. And if they don't commence them, then they never come into force... famously the Act that set the date of Easter has never been commenced."

Dr Ruth Fox, Co-host, Parliament Matters & Director of the Hansard Society

Resources

Hansard Society

House of Commons Library

State Opening of Parliament – history and ceremonial David Torrance

Lord Norton

The 1922 Committee: Power Behind the Scenes Philip Norton, Manchester University Press (2023)

Transcript

Please note, this transcript is automatically generated. There are consequently minor errors and the text is not formatted according to our style guide. If you wish to reference or cite the transcript copy below, please first check against the audio version above. Timestamps are provided above each paragraph.

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:34:00

You are listening to Parliament Matters, a Hansard Society Production supported by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. Learn More at hansardsociety.org.uk/pm. Hello and welcome to Parliament Matters, the new podcast from the Hansard Society about the institution at the heart of our democracy - Parliament itself. I'm Ruth Fox and I'm Mark D'Arcy. Every week we're going to be analysing what's going on behind the Gothic facade of Westminster.

00:00:34:02 - 00:00:52:00

We'll be explaining how the system works and hearing about the latest research on the workings of parliaments and politics, and looking back at key moments of parliamentary history. We're going to talk in this episode about The King's Speech, the new laws the government has proposed, the State Opening of Parliament. And indeed, why do we have a State Opening of Parliament?

00:00:52:01 - 00:01:23:22

Why do we have this slightly strange system of parliamentary cycles that start with The King's Speech and closed with the prorogation ceremony providing a sort of hard stop to the legislative agenda? And then we'll be talking to Lord Norton, political savant and Tory peer who dropped by to discuss the 1922 Committee, the mysterious institution whose inhabitants may or may not wear gray suits, but who can make or break a conservative prime minister.

00:01:23:24 - 00:01:46:05

But first, The King's Speech. The King's Speech is the beginning of a parliamentary year. It's when His Majesty sets out on behalf of the Prime Minister of the day the program of laws they're planning to pass in the coming year. But we all know that an election is due in the next 12 months or so. So how much of what's being proposed this time around is actual law that they want to get on the statute book?

00:01:46:11 - 00:02:08:13

And how much is political performance art? I suppose you might say something intended to create dividing lines with labor, something intended to set up the debates of the next general election. Ruth, you've been looking at the list. Yes. So the 21 bills that the government has has identified. Of course, the thing to remember is the government can bring bills in that are not in The King's Speech.

Use the links below to subscribe to the Hansard Society's Parliament Matters podcast on your preferred app, or search for 'Parliament Matters' on whichever podcasting service you use. If you are unable to find our podcast, please email us here.

Apple

YouTube Podcasts

Spotify

More ways to subscribe

Parliament Matters homepage

Latest / Highlights

Briefings / 14 things to look out for in Parliament this Autumn

When parliamentarians return to Westminster on October 7, all eyes will be on the Budget — the major parliamentary event on the immediate horizon. However, as the Government’s legislative agenda picks up speed and Select Committees get underway, there will be many other important developments to track. In the months ahead, we’ve identified 14 key issues worth watching closely, particularly as some of them may provide crucial signals about how this Government’s approach to and treatment of Parliament compares to its predecessors.

Blog / Select committee chair elections: what do the results tell us about the new Parliament?

The House of Commons recently held elections for the chairs of its select committees in the new Parliament. But how did this year's elections compare to those of previous years? Were they more competitive? How well were women and ethnic minority MPs represented among the candidates and winners? And what level of parliamentary experience do the newly elected chairs bring to the table?

News / Select Committee chair elections: who won and can they work together? - Parliament Matters podcast, Episode 47

In this episode, we explore the outcomes and implications of the latest Select Committee Chair elections in Parliament. The newly elected chairs will play a pivotal role in scrutinising the government, but can they effectively work together? We talk to Dr. Marc Geddes, a leading expert on Select Committees, who highlights how this year’s competitive elections compare to previous parliaments and what that could mean for committee dynamics in the future.

Events / The inaugural Churchill-Attlee Democracy Lecture, given by the Rt Hon Theresa May MP

To mark the Hansard Society’s 80th anniversary, we have launched the Churchill-Attlee Democracy Lecture in honour of our first members, Winston Churchill and Clement Attlee. The inaugural lecture was given by former Prime Minister the Rt Hon Theresa May MP on 14 May 2024. All proceeds from ticket sales went to our 80th Anniversary Appeal. See below for a video recording and transcript of the event.

Blog / MPs and the parliamentary oath of allegiance: A shibboleth under scrutiny?

Before taking their seats, Members of Parliament must legally swear an oath or make an affirmation of allegiance to the Crown. For some MPs this can be uncomfortable, creating a conflict between personal beliefs and legal obligations. Some MPs find themselves compelled to express sentiments they do not genuinely hold, or risk their constituents being deprived of representation. Unlike oaths taken by other office holders, the parliamentary oath does not address public expectations of MPs, nor does it guide MPs in understanding their duties. It has become a symbolic formality, a shibboleth, that could be usefully reformed.